Déjà Entendu
by purduepup
Summary: For Tomatosoup inc.; SessRin. It's been centuries since he last saw her. Now in modern-day Tokyo, Sesshoumaru meets Rinne, who's charmed by his familiar yet distant aura. Though second chances may be sweet, sometimes reunions are bitterer than they seem.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Inuyasha or the title (that was taken from a Brand New album of the same name).

**A/N:** This is my first SessRin story, so if I fail, you'll know why. :P This will be a mix of romance, drama, hurt/comfort, and humor (since I think balancing things out will satisfy the birthday girl best). I originally planned to name this "Déjà Vu" for _Already Seen_, but thought that wouldn't be so alluring as "Déjà Entendu", or _Already Heard_, since "Déjà Vu" is just so…mainstream. xD I hope you enjoy, and please review! :)

_Note:_ Not only does "Rinne" conveniently mean _reincarnation_ in Japanese and coincide with "Rin", but its French counterpart "Renée"also means _reborn_. Also, for those who don't know, _bon voyage_ means "have a good trip" in French.

* * *

><p>This cultural story is for the amazing Japanophile <span>Tomatosoup inc.<span>,  
>a wondrous writer, fantastic friend, and total SessRin fangirl. xD<br>Happy birthday, and may your turtle and crane never slip nor fall! ^.^  
>(You better get that joke, by the way, or else I'll sound like a moron. :|)<p>

Also, I apologize in advance for the references to France.  
>With a French title, it couldn't be helped. *shrugs*<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Déjà Entendu<strong>_

_Prologue: Bon Voyage_

* * *

><p>Mirabelle's Bakery was peaceful as always, customers coming in and exchanging pleasantries with a chestnut-haired, hazel-eyed woman behind the counter ringing up their breads and pastries with a contagious smile. The overall atmosphere was very relaxed, although a bit rushed, and a few teens tried free samples of Mirabelle's <em>pain au chocolat<em>, a chocolate-filled, croissant-like treat, her claimed specialty besides _éclair_, a cream-filled sort of doughnut, and _profiterole_, or cream puff. An exchange student smiled as she purchased the owner's child's homemade _mille-feuille_, a layered cake with a sweet filling in-between, and Mirabelle wished her well before tending to their next customer.

The store was two stories high and a bit cramped, but that was nothing too major—as long as people could move in the aisles without bumping into each other too much, it was comfortable and homey. Mirabelle's shoppers were usually tourists, especially elder ones or family groups since they preferred the calmer outskirts of Paris compared to the city, so the owner learned some English, the frequent counter girl knowing all of it from her studies. Today in particular had many foreign customers, but with her helper already occupied upstairs, Mirabelle had to handle things herself. She didn't mind, however, embracing the opportunity instead of resenting it; she'd be alone soon without much help until she hired an assistant, so she figured getting used to tending to the bakery by herself wouldn't be much of an issue.

What did concern her, though, was the potential long, lonely nights by herself. She was thankful her daughter at least insisted upon buying a kitten before she began packing for Japan, or else she may have loathed the notion of Renée leaving home altogether. However, if her husband requested it…

Mirabelle sighed.

Her estranged spouse, Shou, was a prestigious, Japanese businessman—the opposite of herself, a trifling, French baker. They met during one of his business trips to Paris, when she was in university, and after a series of dates and Japanese lessons, within a few weeks, she fell in love with him, the man who'd never be home. Shortly after her confession of love, they were engaged and wedded on his next trip to Paris, changing her identity from Mirabelle Petit to Sasaki Mirabelle "Mira".

Unfortunately, following the conception of their daughter and their moving to Japan, he went away again on business, and even had to live in other foreign countries for long periods of time. Since he was never home and Mirabelle was very unfamiliar with Japan, she moved back to Paris to open up her current bakery, wanting something to help treat her loneliness. Renée grew up without ever really seeing her father's face, and though this pained Mirabelle's heart, she also understood that Shou's main priority was supporting his family financially and building up his reputation as a successful entrepreneur.

She was secretly unhappy with her husband's absence, but Renée—who'd adopted a Japanese name for their occasional trips to Japan—was highly knowledgeable to both her parents' cultures, which secretly pleased her husband. His work required much international travel, so he often studied the languages and cultures of the places to which he visited. Amongst these were English, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, German, and French for his travels to their respective countries, though he sometimes made detours to Russia with what little Russian he knew. He was a well-mannered man, albeit a bit distant, and though Mirabelle loved him with all her heart, Renée held no real bond with him, seeing him more like a family friend or sensei than a father. This also saddened Mirabelle, but she'd learned over time how to cope with it and enjoy whatever she had.

Upstairs, her daughter was the opposite of the atmosphere below: She was restless, pumped-up—and panicked. Her mind raced, wondering if she had everything she should've and trying to recall the country she was going to live in for the next year. Had she packed appropriate attire for the seasons, or even public approval? Would she remember proper Japanese etiquette, or would she embarrass her father? It was bad enough that she held foreign blood; add in her dissimilar, "inappropriate" philosophy, and she was potentially screwed.

Groaning, Renée let herself fall back-first onto her bed, huffing in exhaustion. She'd been running around all morning, saying her farewells and gathering whatever she could of her home before this evening when her mother would escort her to the international airport. She didn't want to dwell on France while she was away, but it was her home—it had always been—and she'd make sure not to forget that, just to ease her mother's worry over her possibly staying in Japan permanently.

Because she'd come back eventually. After all, her father always did.

She smiled at that. Though she only saw faint traces of who the man really was on the inside, her mother's faithful, unchanging love for him was what made his absence tolerable. The light on her mother's face when he walked through the door was incomparable to any other time, and she was hoping he would make an entrance while she was away, or maybe she could convince him to make a side trip to Paris before he went on another business trip.

Her mother would be awfully lonely without her daughter around, even with that silly, young Chat, and she didn't want that. Even though she'd be in another country for a long while with very few visitation possibilities, she wanted to do whatever she could to better her mother's life, to make her father visit more than once a year.

Concerning her leaving France, she'd live in her father's apartment for the next year as she interned for another influential businessman by the name of Taishou. The _Académie de Paris_ offered several internships in other countries, especially for business majors, and seeing Tokyo, Japan, amongst the list was all the encouragement Renée—soon to be changed to another name when she stepped on Japanese soil—needed to apply for the program. She was one of the first picks since she was already familiar with the language and culture, and because of this and the fact that it would be _Taishou_-sama she'd intern for, when he was told the news, her father was the most ecstatic she'd ever seen. He'd given her mother a very large grin at the news, pecking her on the cheek before giving that smile to her, his daughter, and placing a gentle hand on her head, towering above both her and her mother as he approved of her decision.

Renée could tell he put faith and pride into her through that single touch, and if she did something wrong and he learned about it, he'd be deeply disappointed.

So, for the sake of her mother's happiness and her father's reputation…God help her not make a fool of herself in front of Taishou Sesshoumaru.

* * *

><p>Their goodbye was a blur.<p>

Renée remembered her mother's embrace, the comforting warmth she sought out when she was lonely herself, Mirabelle's hands in her hair, straightening out strands and memorizing the texture. She recalled smelling her mother during the hug, trying to commit her sweet scent to memory—the aroma of their store's food and of the times they spent cooking together in their small kitchen. She would make sure to remember every small detail of her mother's face despite the photographs she'd be taking along, and from Mirabelle's wandering eyes on her own face, she could tell the woman was doing the same.

After managing to feel at ease with their first long-term separation, Renée kissed her mother on one cheek before carrying her luggage to the terminal designated for the Tokyo airplane, tossing a small wave behind her since her muscles felt just a bit too unfamiliar with all that she was feeling.

Behind her, her mother shouted a bit too loudly at the entrance, "_Bon voyage_, Renée!"

She managed a laugh, and after making it past security and identification checks, she settled into her first-class seat, courtesy of her father, and pulled out a few Japanese books to brush up on the language. As the plane lifted off the airstrip and into the sky, Renée said her final goodbye to Paris through the window before pulling down the flap and practicing writing her Japanese name in a leather-bound notebook.

_Sasaki Rinne. Sasaki Rin._

Rin.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** …Wow, I'm lame. That wasn't even really in Rin's POV. How depressing. ;_; And for those of you who know French…yes, I named their cat "Cat". U mad, bro? :D


End file.
